Ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi is once
again placing his bets on the backward Bundelkhand region to build up a
momentum against the ruling Samajwadi Party.

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Amit Agnihotri

New Delhi

January 23, 2016

UPDATED: January 23, 2016 10:32 IST

Rahul Gandhiâs 2012 visit was instrumental in the Manmohan Singh government sanctioning a Rs 7K crore package for the backward region spread across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi is once again placing his bets on the backward Bundelkhand region to build up a momentum against the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Before the 2012 Assembly polls too, Rahul had toured the Bundelkhand region and was instrumental in the Manmohan Singh government sanctioning a Rs 7,000 crore package for the backward region spread across Uttar Pradesh and MP.

The move was part of the Congress' effort to create an environment against the then BSP government under then chief minister Mayawati.

The move was successful as the BSP lost the 2012 polls but the Congress, which had surprised itself by winning 22 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the 2009 national elections, failed to capture the political space vacated by Mayawati. Instead, the SP came back with a thumping majority.

As the political scene hots up in the politically crucial state, Rahul has once again set his eyes on the Bundelkhand region to target the Akhilesh Yadav government.

On the Agenda

On Saturday, Rahul will interact with drought affected farmers in Mahoba district in Bundelkhand region and walk around seven kilometres to get a feel of the situation on the ground.

He will also unveil a statue of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

After the 2012 assembly polls, when the Congress could increase its tally by just six seats from 22 in 2007 to 28, too many leaders and a weak organisation were identified as the reason for the party's poor show despite massive campaigning by Rahul.

Sources said the situation on the ground still remains the same though some efforts to boost the party infrastructure have made by Rahul, who keeps a close watch on the developments in UP, his home state.

Both Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are Lok Sabha members from Rae Bareli and Amethi parliamentary constituencies in UP.

Though the central package from UPA II could not reach the beneficiaries at large, primarily due to corruption in the layers of state bureaucracy, sources said Rahul is likely to make a demand from the BJP ruled centre to announce fresh relief for the drought affected farmers.

The plight of the farmers would also be used to highlight against the SP government which is trying desperately to beat the antiincumbency.

Sources said Rahul's onslaught against the BJP and SP in UP would continue in the months to come where the Congress would make a greater pitch to register its presence by raking up issues like pending dues of cane farmers in western UP and large scale joblessness affecting the youth.

The Congress which ruled UP for decades since independence, has been moved to the margins since the past two decades during which SP and BSP emerged as the two strong regional players.

The BJP, which seeped the state in the 2014 national elections, is very hopeful to regain power in the 2017 assembly polls.